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We’ve all read a book or story that captured our hearts and made us feel things very deeply. It’s a superpower writers have, but it isn’t something we’re born with.

Connecting with your reader’s emotion happens when you’ve practiced writing. It becomes easier after each rough draft, each great draft, and each terrible draft.

But—if you want to save yourself some time, these are a few perspectives you can use to sharpen your writing tools.

1. Display Your Protagonist’s Inner Emotions

Your readers want to experience a character’s journey by connecting with them emotionally. We pick up books to feel things while learning something or just taking a break from life.

Displaying your protagonist’s inner conflict could look something like: She saw the ghost in the hallway, which scared her.

Your reader will feel more engaged if you describe how fear makes your protagonist feel instead of them feeling fear generally: She saw the ghost in the hallway and fear shot through her body like lightning.

You don’t need tons of flowery language to make your reader feel the same things as your character. Sometimes a minor descriptor or simile can do the job.

2. Show Your Protagonist’s Feelings Through External Reactions

Emotions don’t solely exist inside our hearts and minds. We also have external reactions to them. That could be nodding in confusion, shifting uncomfortably in a chair, or bending over laughing.

Consider this example:

“I love your laugh,” Anita said to Alice. “It makes my heart skip a beat.”

Heat spread through Alice’s cheeks as she smiled.

“Oh, you don’t mean that.”

You don’t need to mention how it feels to receive a compliment from a crush or why flattery is nice to hear. The physical reaction of blushing is something the reader can relate to and understand.

3. Make Your Reader Feel Something Your Character Doesn’t

This is a fun one. Sometimes characters have to figure something out, but the reader already knows what’s going on.

This could happen when you’re writing a horror story that is supposed to teach the reader about the joy of recognizing your own strength. The protagonist has the skills in the beginning to defeat the evil antagonist, but must reach rock bottom before cheering himself on. The whole time, the reader knows they can beat the antagonist and survive because they have the brains/strength/creativity, etc.

You could also write an enemies-to-lovers arc where it’s obvious to the reader that both characters are in love with each other long before they realize it. The reader should want them to embrace the scary feeling of falling in love, because that’s what you’re trying to teach through your story.

Consider Your Story’s Purpose

                Whenever I read anyone else’s work I tend to look for two main things: pacing, and character introductions because they are the most important moment of characterization you have. You only get one chance to introduce a character—to me, it’s so, so important to make it the most effective you can.

                There’s nothing worse than when I’m reading someone else’s work and their intro for a character tells us their name and not much else. This first impression of a character is going to shape how we build them for the rest of the story, so we’re going to want to make it informative and memorable.

                By informative, I mean we want to know the most essential part of this character. The thing you need to know to get a good feel for them. Memorable means they don’t sound like any other character—it’s unique, and it leaves an impression. Take this example from one of my old projects:

“She moved on to the boy standing just to the side of the TV, holding a journal in one hand, having only just noticed her when she was already in the apartment. He was a sandy blond, with simple clothing, simple features—there was nothing about him that should have made him stand out from the rest but he did. From him emanated a sort of energy, or youth, or light—it was impossible to describe—he radiated life. She knew, instantly, she had just joined an orbit and he was at the center, and it made sense—a feeling deep in her chest was egging her to make up the planets surrounding him.

For several long moments, MC couldn’t look away, feeling every set of eyes of the room turned towards her.”

                This intro is the main character meeting another major character. What we need to know about him is that he is far more concerned with his work than his surroundings—so he doesn’t notice her until she’s practically standing right in front of him. Next, we need to know that he’s a natural leader. For context, the MC has just walked into a group of established friends—we know from this intro that he is the one they all turn to, and trust.

                And lastly, he stands out because of her reaction—she’s instantly pulled towards him. Despite the eyes of the room, the attention she’s getting, she hardly notices.

                Now, intros will look different depending on how big of a role the character has, what they’ll end up meaning to the main character or story, and how you’d like your reader to perceive them, so not every intro is going to be equal (or look like the example above.) What’s important to remember is to treat each one as if it’s the only time we’ll ever meet the character—what do readers need to get a good sense of them?

Oh, and this goes double for your protagonist, their intro should be the most memorable and impactful!